As the 2025 Six Nations ticks past the halfway mark, we analyse the best stats and facts from Round 3.
The middle weekend of the Six Nations can be a great leveller. Teams down on their luck have an extra week to figure out how to turn their campaigns around, while it can be a momentum killer for the nations who are flying high after the first two rounds.
For the opening fixture of the weekend that certainly felt like the case. Matt Sherratt’s first game in temporary charge gave Welsh fans something to be positive about for the rest of the campaign.
Such was the improvement in the Welsh attack it makes you wonder what they had been working on since the World Cup as they made Ireland work hard for their win. It leaves Ireland head coach Simon Easterby with much to ponder ahead of the visit of France in two weeks.
Later on Saturday, rugby’s oldest trophy was on the line as England and Scotland clashed for the Calcutta Cup. England scraped a victory, but they had Finn Russell’s wayward kicking to thank for it.
From England’s point of view it wasn’t pretty, but they’re now coming out on the right side of tight results and that is all that matters in tournament rugby.
15 – @EnglandRugby have won back to back matches by just a single point for the first time since 1937; indeed their last 15 matches against 6N/TRC sides have been decided by single-digit margins and an average of just 3.5 points. Nails. pic.twitter.com/FLZETKXJOc
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 24, 2025The final game of the weekend saw Italy host France and while the Azzurri held their own in the first half, Les Bleus ran riot in the second. France’s attacking fluency proved too much, and they carved Italy open at will.
It leaves France with a healthy points tally after three rounds, which could be all important if they’re able to beat Ireland in Dublin in the penultimate round.
With three rounds down and two to go, we dive into the standout stats, the biggest talking points, and the top five performers of the weekend.
Wales 18-27 Ireland
Ireland have won each of their last four Men’s Six Nations matches against Wales, their joint-longest run against them in any iteration of the Championship (also W4 from 2001-2004). However, their nine-point margin of victory today was their narrowest in that run. Wales have now lost each of their last 15 Test matches, their longest ever such run. In the professional era, only Italy (L16 from 2019-2021) have gone on a longer losing run among Tier 1 nations. Ireland conceded four scrum penalties against Wales, their most in a Six Nations game since 2022 (4 vs Scotland) and as many as in their previous four matches against Wales combined – it was the first time Wales have been awarded as many scrum penalties since 2017 (4 vs Italy). Garry Ringrose received his first card (yellow, upgraded to red) in what was his 66th Test match for Ireland. Including URC and European matches for Leinster, it was just his second card of any colour in 195 appearances, alongside a yellow against Northampton Saints in December 2019. Wales beat 33 defenders against Ireland, their most ever in a Men’s Six Nations game. Blair Murray beat 11, the most by a Wales player in the Championship, surpassing Scott Quinnell’s tally of 10 against Italy in 2000.England 16-15 Scotland
England won a Six Nations game against Scotland for the first time since 2020 (13-6), ending what was their longest losing streak against them since 1893-1896 (also L4); it was the first time they’ve won the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham since 2017 (61-21). England have won each of their last four Six Nations home matches, their longest run since winning 15 in a row between 2012 and 2018; however, each of those have come by margins of just two points or fewer and have seen England tied or trailing at half-time. Huw Jones scored his sixth try against England in the Six Nations, while Duhan van der Merwe scored his seventh – no other player has scored more than five against England in the Men’s Six Nations. Ben White and Tommy Freeman have both scored a try in each of the first three rounds of this year’s Six Nations; White is the first Scotland player to manage that in the Championship while Freeman is just the third England player to do so, after Will Greenwood in 2001 and Ben Cohen in 2002. Finn Russell missed all three of his kicks against England and has now slotted just 38% of his kicks at goal in the Championship this year after landing 96% last year; he has scored five points fewer than expected this year, according to Opta’s xGK model.Italy 24-73 France
France’s 49-point win against Italy was their biggest in the Men’s Six Nations, while their tally of 73 points was the second most by any team in a Men’s Six Nations fixture, after England’s 80-23 win against the Azzurri in 2001. France conceded just six penalties against Italy and have conceded just 17 in total in this year’s Six Nations, an average of 5.7 per game. That’s currently the lowest average by any team in an edition of the tournament. France made 28 successful offloads to Italy’s four. Only England, who made 29 against Italy in 2001, have made more in a Men’s Six Nations fixture. Antoine Dupont made eight of those offloads, only Scotland duo Nathan Hines (10 vs Italy in 2007) and Sean Lamont (9 vs Italy in 2011) have made eight or more in a match in the Championship. Antoine Dupont scored two tries and assisted three against Italy, just the fourth time a player has been directly involved in five tries in a Men’s Six Nations game, alongside Austin Healey (3 tries, 2 assists vs Italy in 2000), Frédéric Michalak (1 try, 4 assists vs Italy in 2006) and Dupont himself (1 try, 4 assists vs Italy in 2021). Louis Bielle-Biarrey has been directly involved in nine tries in this year’s Six Nations (5 tries, 4 assists), the joint most of any player in a single edition, level with Jonny Wilkinson 2001 (1 try, 8 assists), Will Greenwood in 2002 (5 tries, 4 assists) and George Ford in 2015 (2 tries, 7 assists); teammate Antoine Dupont is just one behind on eight (2 tries, 6 assists).Top Five Players from 2025 Six Nations Round 2
With his five try involvements, unsurprisingly Antoine Dupont was the top player of the round with a staggering 9.8 match rating. He leads a top five stacked with French players, with Wales’ Jac Morgan the pick of the rest, thanks to an all-action performance against Ireland.
Don’t forget, you can compare all the players in this year’s Men’s Six Nations using our Six Nations Stats Hub.
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